South Texas Project top producer of energy in U.S.

For the eighth straight year, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company has led the nation in producing more electricity.

The rankings are based on the 2011 generation data published in Platt's Nucleonics Week.

It finished second worldwide in two-unit production.

"We are very proud to have safely led the nation in two-unit production for eight consecutive years," said Ed Halpin, STP Nuclear Operating Company president and chief executive officer.

Combined, both units produced 21.41 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free energy in 2011, enough to power more than 2 million Texas homes.

"It's a credit to the dedication and commitment of our team, whose focus - first and foremost - is on the safe and reliable operation of our units. In a year where we conducted two scheduled refueling and maintenance outages, this is quite an accomplishment," he added.

In April, the nuclear power plant completed its 30th refueling outage since beginning commercial operation in 1998, working more than 360,000 man-hours on the Unit 1 outage without a lost-time or restricted duty injury.

In December, STP reached a milestone, sustaining 18 months without a lost-time or restricted duty accident.